Unpaid Fines in NSW: Overdue Fines, Licence Suspension and Your Options

By James Stevens, Director and Solicitor, Go To Court Lawyers. Last reviewed 10 April 2026.

In NSW, an unpaid fine becomes an overdue fine with a $65 fee ($25 for under-18s) once the 28 days on the reminder notice pass, after which your licence can be suspended and Revenue NSW can recover the money from your bank account, wages or property; nobody can be jailed for unpaid fines in NSW since 19 May 2022.

Checked on 23 October 2026 against Revenue NSW, Legal Aid NSW, the Work and Development Order Guidelines 2024, the Judicial Commission of NSW's sentencing bench book and NSW Parliament's records of the 2017, 2022 and 2026 amending Acts. The NSW legislation website could not be read that day.

The stages and the costs

• Paying the full balance stops recovery action.
• Under 18: the overdue fine cost is $25, later recovery costs must be waived if all the fines were incurred under 18, and Transport for NSW cannot act on a licence for non-traffic fines incurred under 18. Fines cannot be issued to children under 10.

Your options

• Pay: online (no card fees), BPAY, by phone on 1300 130 112 (Visa or Mastercard), or at Australia Post or a Service NSW centre. Licence restrictions are lifted 24 to 48 hours after your payment is received.
• Payment plan: at any time, including for overdue fines, weekly or fortnightly, including through Centrepay; an upfront payment may be needed. No further action is taken while you keep up the payments, and a licence suspension or registration cancellation is lifted automatically after six on-time payments (unless an earlier plan for the same fine failed). Earlier lifting can be negotiated with an upfront payment, or for medical, caring or safety reasons.
• Review: at any time, even after a fine is overdue (or within 60 days if you paid in full before a reminder). The fine is put on hold; Revenue NSW says it usually responds within about 21 days. The fine must be withdrawn if it was issued against the law, for mistaken identity, for exceptional circumstances, or if an intellectual disability, mental illness, cognitive impairment or homelessness meant you could not understand or control what you did. A caution may be given for a lower-risk offence if you have 10 years' clear NSW driving record.
• Go to court: before the due date on the reminder notice, at no cost (or within 90 days if you paid in full before a reminder). After that date you must show something stopped you dealing with the fine; if Revenue NSW refuses, you can apply to the Local Court within 28 days. A court can impose a higher fine, costs and a conviction.
• Nominate the driver: up to the reminder notice's due date, online or by statutory declaration.
• 50% reduction: only in limited cases: you were on a government benefit at the time, cannot pay in full or by a plan within 12 months, cannot do a WDO, had fewer than four similar fines in 12 months, and the offence is not a serious one (such as speeding, a school zone, phone, red light, seatbelt, or drink or drug offence). Apply on 1300 138 118.
• Write-off: for overdue fines, if serious financial hardship, a medical condition or a situation such as family violence stops you paying, and a plan or WDO is not possible. If approved, no recovery action is taken for five years, but a new overdue fine in that time can reverse it. Demerit points still apply.
• Hardship Review Board: if a payment plan, WDO or write-off is refused (or a plan is set too high), the Board can tell Revenue NSW to change its decision. Since 18 February 2026, decision letters must tell you of this right.
• Hold on recovery: Revenue NSW can pause recovery for up to 12 months while you gather documents or arrange a WDO; for prisoners, until three months after release.

Work and Development Orders

• Who qualifies: people with a mental illness, intellectual disability or cognitive impairment, a serious addiction, homelessness or acute economic hardship, and people under 18.
• What counts, and at what rate: unpaid work at $30 an hour; courses, counselling or case management at $50 an hour; medical or mental health treatment, drug or alcohol treatment and mentoring up to $1,000 a month. The overall limit is $1,000 a month.
• The effect: recovery action stops and licence and vehicle restrictions are generally lifted once a WDO is in place.
• How: through an approved sponsor, such as an organisation, health practitioner or social worker. WDO hotline: 1300 478 879. For a court fine, ask the Local Court that imposed it, within 28 days, to refer it for a WDO.

How Revenue NSW recovers unpaid fines

• Licence and registration: Transport for NSW suspends NSW, interstate and overseas licences (visitor driving privileges), cancels registration and can refuse licence and registration dealings, at Revenue NSW's direction. A Photo Card can still be issued.
• Driving while suspended for unpaid fines is a separate offence: up to $3,300 for a first offence (no jail), and up to $5,500 or 6 months' jail, or both, for a later offence, with an automatic disqualification (3 months for a first offence, 12 months for a later one).
• Garnishee orders: Revenue NSW can order a bank or employer to pay it from your money. The order takes effect as a Local Court order and can be contested. A minimum balance must be left in your account (it was $587.50 from 1 April 2024, and is indexed), Centrelink payments themselves cannot be taken, and refunds are possible for hardship.
• Property seizure: the Sheriff first visits and asks for payment, then gives a notice listing property with 7 days to pay, then may seize and sell it. Property already seized need not be returned if you later set up a plan.
• Examination: an examination notice requires your financial details; if ignored, the Local Court can order an examination, and failing to attend can lead to an arrest warrant.
• Charge on land: where fines exceed $1,000, you cannot sell the land without paying.
• No jail: imprisonment for unpaid fines was removed from NSW law on 19 May 2022.

Court fines

• A court fine is payable within 28 days unless the court orders otherwise, and a registrar can allow more time; apply on the "Time to Pay a Court Fine" form at a Local Court registry, at no cost. Pay by phone on 1300 679 272, through the NSW Online Registry, or at court.
• If unpaid, the fine goes to Revenue NSW, which issues an overdue fine (28 days, plus costs) and recovers it as above.
• You can appeal to the District Court within 28 days of sentence (up to 3 months with leave).

Free help in NSW

How Go To Court Lawyers can help

Our free line, 1800 577 015, answers at any hour. Jen, our AI legal information assistant, gives general legal information and takes your details; Jen is not a lawyer and does not give advice about your case. A 60-minute consultation with a lawyer who practises in NSW is a fixed $295, by phone, video or in person where the lawyer offers it. The lawyer can advise on a review, a court election or a hardship application, and represent you if you are charged with driving while suspended. Requests are taken at any hour; how soon a lawyer can see you depends on who is available. Request a $295 consultation.

General information only, not legal advice. Updated 23 October 2026. Checked against Revenue NSW's fines pages (including what happens if you don't pay, payment plans, reviews, court elections, write-offs, fine reductions, Work and Development Orders and the Hardship Review Board), Legal Aid NSW's fines pages and its guide Fined out (2024), the Work and Development Order Guidelines 2024, the Judicial Commission of NSW's Sentencing Bench Book, and NSW Parliament's records of the Road Transport Amendment (Driver Licence Disqualification) Act 2017, the State Revenue and Fines Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous) Act 2022 and the Fines Legislation Amendment Act 2026, on 23 October 2026. The NSW legislation website showed a bot check that day, so the Fines Act 1996 and its regulation were not read directly.